The new short form series Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream, starring teen pop stars Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas, will premiere this Friday, May 16 (7:55 p.m., ET/PT) on the Disney Channel. The series takes fans behind the scenes for a look at the brothers' roller coaster ride to mega fame, and how they stayed together as a family through it all.
The Jonas Brothers' rise to fame has been fast and furious. In the last year, the band completed two sold-out U.S. tours, most recently breaking the record for fastest ticket sell out in the history of the Gibson Amphitheatre (Los Angeles). Their album went Platinum in the U.S., Mexico and Argentina and is Gold in Canada, Colombia, Venezuela and Central America. Coming up, the brothers will star in Camp Rock , a Disney Channel movie, and a 3-D theatrical release of their "Burning Up" concert tour is scheduled for 2009.
These things can always change, but as of now the boys are great role models for kids and tweens. They have worked hard to achieve success, and their parents have been with them and supporting them the whole time. The new series will likely give kids a glimpse of Jonas family life, and hopefully help convince tweens that parents can be cool, sometimes.
The Electric Company makes a comeback! Today Sesame Workshop is starting production on a revamped version of the classic Electric Company show. While I don't remember too much about the original show, other than the famous "Hey You Guys" yell, I do know that it was intended to be as educational as it was silly. The new show will have these qualities as well, with the curriculum focusing heavily on improving literacy.
Specifically, the show will target kids ages 6-9 with the goal of reducing the literacy gap between low and middle income families. In looking at research indicating that children from low-income families are at a disadvantage when it comes to literacy, and that kids who are struggling with reading and do not get help by second grade are in danger of never catching up, Sesame Workshop has committed to provide programming aimed at helping kids in this age group learn reading skills and realize that "reading is cool."
Weekly episodes are scheduled to start in January 2009 on PBS KIDS, and will be supplemented by online content as well as community-based outreach activities taking place in 20 cities across the country.
Another DVD from my favorite preschoolers' TV show, the Backyardigans, will be available on Tuesday. Set to fifties music, High Flying Adventures features pilot Uniqua delivering singing telegrams. The DVD contains three additional adventures: "Who Goes There?," set to Flamenco; "What's Bugging You?," featuring Rumba music; and "Chichen-itza Pizza," set to college fight songs.
If you are a parent to a preschooler, and you have not seen the Backyardigans yet, I highly suggest checking it out. You may find yourself giving in to the urge to sit down and watch it with your kids.
"Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer!" I think that song is forever stuck in my head, but that's OK, because the movie was much less torturous than I expected. In fact, visually the film was incredibly unique and fantastic. Speed Racer is a live-action movie, but the action takes place within a computer animated world. Thus, the movie retains the feeling of cartoonish whimsy, and it doesn't look like any movie I've ever seen before. Kids especially will love this exciting ride.
The movie has another good point - the story places a surprisingly strong emphasis on the importance of family, and the moral of the film teaches that "cheaters never prosper." Unfortunately, there are also a few content elements that, for me as a parent, were not exciting. Most of the girls in the movie wear exceptionally skimpy outfits, and there is a high amount of violence as well as some language. I am betting that this one was probably on the brink of earning a PG-13 rating. But, as it stands, the movie is rated PG, for sequences of action, some violence and language.
The next DVD installment of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 3: Volume 3, is available this week on DVD. The DVD contains the next five chapters from Book 3: Fire, and follows Aang and his friends as they search for the Firelord and are forced to flee from the Fire Nation.
For Avatar fans, every DVD release is exciting, but even more exciting is the announcement that an Avatar movie is coming to the big screen. Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies have announced plans for a live-action epic adventure, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, which will launch over the Independence Day weekend in 2010.
M. Night Shyamalan - yes, the same one who did The Sixth Sense and Signs - will direct and produce the action-adventure based on a script that he penned. I have to admit, even I am excited about this movie. Based on the cartoon series, I am sure there will be a lot of martial arts violence, so I hope that Shyamalan can keep it toned down for kids; but the storyline will likely be very intriguing.
Yes, there is going to be another High School Musical movie, but this time, the Wildcats are hitting the big screen. High School Musical 3: Senior Year is set to be released in theaters on October 24, 2008, and I can't wait to see the lines! This movie is going to be big, and it just goes to show how popular the franchise has become that the third movie is a big enough deal to move to theaters.
In the third installment of the story, Troy and Gabriella must deal with the idea of being separated as they head off to different colleges. The Wildcats stage a spring musical reflecting their experiences, hopes and fears about the future. Each of the previous HSM movies have delivered a positive and uplifting message for kids, and I hope that the third delivers in that respect too, proving once again that good, clean entertainment really can become popular and make money.
Preschoolers Can Learn as They Celebrate Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo may not be the real Mexican Independence Day, but we can still have fun celebrating it here in the United States. The day offers a great opportunity to teach kids about a different culture and language, and since Spanish has become so popular in children's media (especially media for preschoolers), it is easier than ever.
Dora the Explorer, for example, has been on the air for more than seven years, and according to Nick, it still ranks as the number one series for preschoolers. A pioneer series in the current trend of interactive TV, Dora was also one of the first to introduce kids to Spanish. Dora and her friends also help kids learn basic knowledge such as colors, numbers, letters, but the emphasis is on simple Spanish words and the show also infuses Latin-style music and culture.
The photo I've posted here is of Miley (Hannah Montana) and her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, at the CMT Music Awards. The upcoming June issue of Vanity Fair magazine, however, contains the photos of Miley alone and some with her father that are causing the stir. A big stir in fact, as the story is all over the news on the Internet and on TV. In other words, it's not likely your kids are going to miss it.
Of course, all parties have their own side to the story. Was it a calculated move to advance Miley's career? Was it a big misunderstanding between Miley, her family and the photographer? All sides do seem to agree, though, that the photos were meant to be "artsy." Great.
The photos are completely inappropriate for a 15-year-old. They are sickening, in fact, and I talk to enough parents to know that I am not alone in that opinion. What I wonder is, do the "acclaimed" photographer who took the photos, Annie Liebovitz, and the people at Vanity Fair who approved the cover, and the father who allowed his daughter to be portrayed like this at such a young age really think that the photos are OK? Do they know that, as the adults in this situation, they have completely failed Miley and the millions of kids who will see, or likely already have seen, the photos? Was it really necessary to get that sexy with a child? How much money do these people need anyway?
These are the kinds of questions that go through my saddened and outraged mind, but I will never get an acceptable answer from the people who think this stuff is "artsy." To me, as a mother, it is devastating. I don't think people are going to boycott the industry to make them change. So, the more important questions are, how could this affect our kids? and how do we handle it?
Click the "comments" link below to leave your ideas or tips on the subject.
(Photo taken at the 2008 CMT Music Awards. Photo credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
The Golden Compass, although rated PG-13, has been labeled as a "children's movie," and many kids saw the movie in theaters. The movie - based on Philip Pullman's novel of the same name, which is the first his “His Dark Materials” trilogy for young adults - develops an intense plot and does contain several sequences of fantasy violence. Now that the movie is on DVD, parents can easily see the movie first to determine if it is appropriate for their children.
Earth Day has just passed, and I am already going to talk about next Earth Day (2009). On April 21, Disney announced Disneynature, a new production banner that will literally go to the ends of the earth to produce major nature documentaries.
Next Earth Day (April 22, 2009), Disneynature will release Earth. Narrated by James Earl Jones, the powerful film will take viewers on a big screen tour of our planet. Before then, though, we can look forward to The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos, which is scheduled for December, 2008.
Jean-Francois Camilleri, who will serve as head of the new Disney unit, expressed his hope that the films will "help the audience to discover the incredible beauty of our world but also understand the challenges for the future generations." I think that the Disney name will help drive audiences to the theater to see these films, so nature is about to get a lot more attention. I am happy about that, of course, but what is even more exciting is that there will be a whole new line of films coming out that are safe and even educational for kids. Yay!
Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream
Hey You Guuuyyys!
A New DVD From The Backyardigans!
Speed Racer
Avatar: The Last Airbender
High School Musical 3
Preschoolers Can Learn as They Celebrate Cinco de Mayo
Miley Cyrus Goes Artsy 
The Golden Compass
Coming Soon...Disneynature!
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